GLPGP shares periodic updates on our overall work and country activities through our webinar series. Video recordings are available below. Make sure to follow us on Twitter @globalLPG for announcements on future webinars.
Innovative Consumer Financing for Cooking Energy Access
Co-hosted with CGAP on February 28, 2019
This webinar explored various consumer financing approaches for expanding access to clean cooking fuels for household energy, including microfinance, pay-as-you-cook and digital finance. The Global LPG Partnership shared lessons from its microfinance program in Cameroon and Kenya, which supports low-income families’ upfront switching costs to cook with LPG (bottled gas). KopaGas discussed its innovative business model enabling customers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to purchase LPG fuel on a pay-as-you-cook basis. CGAP shared insights from the use of microfinance, pay-as-you-go and digital finance in the solar electricity sector, and how they could inform future clean cooking sector innovations.
Financing access to LPG - Programs that improve LPG service and access in Ghana, Kenya and Haiti
Co-hosted with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition on July 12, 2018
Participants learned about Ghana’s transition to the LPG cylinder recirculation model to expand LPG access safely and effectively. They discovered an innovative program offering pay-as-you-cook LPG service for emerging markets: Envirofit’s SmartGas, with over 300 units in Kenya and Ghana. Finally, they heard about findings on the economics of access to LPG in Haiti from a household perspective, and the associated effects in terms of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and greenhouse gas emissions. Speakers included Mr. Alex Evans, Chair of GLPGP’s Operating Committee, Jessica Alderman, Director of Communications & Public Relations at Envirofit, and Thomas Thivillon, Head of Energy Programs at Entrepreneurs du Monde.
Supporting Better Health Through Cooking with LPG: Programs for low-income communities in Kenya, Peru and Cameroon
Co-hosted with the Climate and Clean Air Coaliltion on March 15, 2018
The webinar showcased ongoing initiatives to improve LPG consumer financing for low-income communities. Richenda Van Leeuwen introduced GLPGP's work. Elizabeth Muchiri, GLPGP’s Country Manager for Kenya, then discussed the National Oil Company of Kenya’s Mwananchi Gas program, which aims to distribute 4.8 million LPG cylinders to Kenyan households by 2020. Dr. Suzanne Pollard and Kendra Williams, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, presented their evaluation of the Peru government’s FISE program, which encourages LPG use by poor populations. Dr. Dan Pope from the University of Liverpool, a GLPGP research partner in Cameroon, concluded the webinar by sharing results from an independent evaluation of LPG adoption and resulting health benefits in the communities of southwest Cameroon where the GLPGP Bottled Gas For Better Life microfinance pilot took place in 2017.
Scaling Up LPG for Clean Cooking in Cameroon: National and Community-Level Actions
Co-hosted with the Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves on September 18, 2017
Mr. Alex Evans, Chairman of GLPGP’s Operating Committee, presented GLPGP’s ongoing work with the Government and LPG sector of Cameroon and in communities, to support the policy, planning and investment - including consumer financing - needed to expand LPG distribution safely and efficiently nationwide, including into previously unserved peri-urban and rural areas. Ms. Bessem Enonchong, GLPGP’s Country Director for Cameroon, shared results and preliminary analysis of data collected from the Bottled Gas For Better Life microfinance pilot, including key lessons learned and next steps. Dr. Dan Pope from the University of Liverpool, a GLPGP research partner in Cameroon, concluded the webinar by sharing key initial findings from an independent evaluation of LPG adoption and resulting health benefits, conducted as part of the LPG Adoption in Cameroon (LACE) study and focused on the communities in southwest Cameroon where the GLPGP microfinance pilot took place.